Swiss National Bank Lowers Stock Position in Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP)

Swiss National Bank cut its position in shares of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) by 8.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 213,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,800 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Advance Auto Parts were worth $15,023,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 3.2% during the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 10,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $729,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 99.7% during the second quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 7,507 shares in the last quarter. Gyroscope Capital Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 53.8% during the second quarter. Gyroscope Capital Management Group LLC now owns 92,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,519,000 after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares in the last quarter. Capital Square LLC lifted its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 33.1% during the second quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in Advance Auto Parts by 1.1% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 86,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,087,000 after purchasing an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. 88.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Advance Auto Parts news, Director Eugene I. Lee, Jr. acquired 8,670 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $57.65 per share, with a total value of $499,825.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,120,139.50. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Advance Auto Parts Price Performance

Shares of AAP opened at $53.03 on Tuesday. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. has a 1-year low of $47.73 and a 1-year high of $158.22. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 15th. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($2.26). Advance Auto Parts had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The company had revenue of $2.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.84 earnings per share. Advance Auto Parts’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Advance Auto Parts, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Advance Auto Parts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 12th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 11th. Advance Auto Parts’s payout ratio is 32.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $84.00 to $70.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 24th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Advance Auto Parts in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $83.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $78.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Advance Auto Parts from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Advance Auto Parts presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.80.

Advance Auto Parts Company Profile

Advance Auto Parts, Inc provides automotive replacement parts, accessories, batteries, and maintenance items for domestic and imported cars, vans, sport utility vehicles, and light and heavy duty trucks. The company offers battery accessories; belts and hoses; brakes and brake pads; chassis and climate control parts; clutches and drive shafts; engines and engine parts; exhaust systems and parts; hub assemblies; ignition components and wires; radiators and cooling parts; starters and alternators; and steering and alignment parts.